Lake Argyle

We drove to Lake Argyle, the enormous man made Lake about 80kms from Kununurra.  There is only one caravan park on the shores of the lake which really surprised us given that there is 950km of shoreline (yep, it is that big!).  The nearby dam wall is only 350m across and is holding back the entire volume of the lake, which is the size of 52 Sydney Harbours.  It is really hard to imagine how big the lake is, even being there, as you can’t possibly see it in it’s entirety from the ground (or even from a chopper, you'd have to be very high!)

Maybe 1% of the lake..

Another small section.

The caravan park doesn’t take bookings so we hoped that both vans could get in.  When we first arrived, the guy managing the vacancies said that we would have to go to unpowered sites for the first night but luckily 2 sites freed up while Barb and I stood there talking to him.  We were amused and bewildered when one of the other attendants asked us not to use our UHF radio as it interfered with the helicopter doing sightseeing flights but we agreed to turn them off anyway.  Pretty much everyone with a van and 4WD in this part of the world has a UHF and it’s ridiculous to say that they would interfere in any way with a commercial aircraft.  

We both scored powered sites which weren’t too far away from each other and boys ran from one to the other easily. We had initially planned to stay for 3 nights but we really wanted to go on a sunset cruise and the only spaces the had were on a cruise 4 days later so we decided to stay an extra couple of nights so we could do it.

The caravan park/resort has a well known Infinity Pool that everyone takes photos in.  We went for a swim and were disappointed to find that the water was freezing!  We all hopped in and took our photos before the adults quickly got out to thaw.  Daniel and Ben lasted a bit longer but Ben is so slim that he started shivering after 5 mins and we had to drag him out too.

Awesome views. Cold pool!

Daniel is doing distance education and spends most mornings on schoolwork which works out well as we are doing informal education with Ben too.  His reading, writing and maths is coming along well and we hope that having some structure, however small, will help prepare him for school next year.

New neighbours arrived to replace the grey nomads in the site next to us and Ben was excited to find that there were 2 kids, Annabelle and Ellie who were around his age.  He played with them and Daniel joined in once his school work was done.  Barb had been carting around a whole watermelon which they had named Melanie (then Moloney.)  Daniel had drawn a face and body on Moloney and when it was time for Moloney to be decapitated he prepared a ‘grave’ and we had a ceremony.  As we consumed parts of Moloney, all four kids collected the seeds and planted them behind the caravan.  They were most diligent in digging them in and watering them and we wonder if the gardener or future guests will wonder at the watermelon plants sprouting up in a couple of months.

Melanie / Moloney

Decapitated!

The grave site.

Jenny and Ross did a coffee/beer run back to Kununurra in Ross’ car as we had all had forgotten a few items and while they were gone Lou cleaned the inside of the Ranger.  So much red dust!  It is everywhere and just keeps reappearing no matter how much you wipe and wash.

That afternoon Barb and Lou did a 5km trail walk up to a local lookout and it was a great workout.  Daniel had a sleepover that night and that was the start of a regular switch that the boys are having between caravans at night.

We hired kayaks and a stand up paddleboard one day and went out to explore the lake, keeping an eye out for some of the estimated 35,000 freshwater crocs that live there.  Ross has a fishing kayak and paddled out with several lines in the water.  Unfortunately there weren’t any fish biting – the barramundi is remaining elusive.  There are apparently plenty of catfish in the lake and they call it ‘Silver Cobbler’ but we didn’t see any of those either.  On the way back to shore, Barb and Daniel saw a croc on the banks near the boat ramp.  Jenny, Ben and I were already back on land by then so Jenny paddled out on the Standup Paddle Board to take a look but only saw it from afar as it slipped under the surface as she approached.  Lou didn’t have a turn on the SUP in order to avoid the requirement for any embarrassing mid lake rescues.

Jenny on the Standup Paddle Board.

Barb and Lou went fishing that afternoon at a spot recommended by the locals.  Again, no fish luck.  In fact, no bites at all for Lou and for Barb, a baby turtle and a little finger sized flathead looking fish.  Lou is really hoping that the only time she catches fish does not become when she is on a $250+ charter excursion.  So far her only real fishing success has been on the Kalbarri and Lombadina charters.  Paying that much money every time will make for expensive dinners!  Luckily she really enjoys the activity itself, especially with fellow fisher, Barb, and isn’t relying on catching anything for it to be fun.  A few bites here and there would be nice though...

Barb and Lou loved the 5km trail so much that they ran / walked it again on 2 other days, taking Jenny with them on the last day.  There are great views and the lookout over the lake is a great destination.  We all went out exploring along a couple of 4WD tracks to other lookouts too.  The lake is so huge that every vantage point reveals another expanse for you to marvel at.
 

We visited the relocated Durack Station Homestead one afternoon.  When the Lake was created, the original homestead was right in the middle of the land to be flooded so it was dismantled brick by brick to be moved to higher ground.  Unfortunately most of the out buildings and a significant amount of machinery and stock were lost to the waters as an unexpectedly heavy wet season filled the lake more quickly than anticipated and caught everyone short.  The bricks of the homestead were individually numbered as they were removed and the whole things sat deconstructed in 44 gallon drums in Kununurra for 10 years before enough money was raised to rebuild it.  The story of the Durack family is well worth exploring and is detailed in Mary Durack’s book “Kings in Grass Castles” which we are keen to read.   The history of the construction of the dam and lake are also fascinating.  When they set off the first blast at the quarry that would supply all the rock for the dam wall it was the largest non-nuclear explosion in Australia’s history.  The footage shows a worker standing beside a line of fuse wire, leaning down to light it with his cigarette and then running away as fast as he could.  It looked like something from the Road Runner.  How OH&S has changed.  

Lou and Barb at the Durack Homestead.

Ben and Daniel (and then the girls next door) had been cooking/fermenting a special drink in an old milk carton.  They called it SDDF – Secret Disgusting Death Formula.  They were making it for Lou and Jenny to drink and Jenny did bravely pretend to sip an early version, getting a splash on her lip. It was indeed disgusting.  Some of the ingredients were dirt, water, sticks, leaves, Quik, toothpaste, bread crusts, banana skins, carrots, used coffee grounds, tomato sauce, onion, tabasco, tomato and more.  Yummy!

We went on the sunset cruise on our last afternoon and it was awesome.  We saw crocs, birds, beautiful skies and even more of the expanse of the lake.  Despite being out there for over 3 hours we only saw a small area of it.  Whilst doing some fish feeding, the guide pointed out the various species below.  We saw lots and lots of catfish, and he explained that when marketed as ‘Catfish’ the flesh was selling for around $4 per kilo so they changed the name to ‘Silver Cobbler’ and it now sells for around $43 per kilo and is considered fine eating.  None of us really found the idea of eating catfish all that appetising but Jenny and Lou tried the battered ‘Silver Cobbler’ for dinner from the bistro that evening.  It was really average and tasteless.  Jenny went so far as to declare it the worst fish she had ever eaten.  Towards the end of the cruise we were allowed to jump in for a swim and the crew floated/threw bottles of wine or cans of beer out to everyone.  The boys (and Jenny) jumped off the roof of the boat too.

We woke the following morning to find that the pesky bats from the tree next door had moved in over our van and crapped all over the van, awning and the car.  We spent an unscheduled hour or so washing everything down before packing up and heading to the Keep River National Park, only a short distance away.